Winding machine



Oct. 8, 1940.

E. A. MORTON WINDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 9, 1939 INVENTOR ERIC ANDREWMORTON BY HIS ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 8,1940

UNITED STATES 2,217,561 WINDING MACHINE Eric Andrew Morton, Coventry,England, assignor to Courtaulds Limited, London, England, a

Britishcompany Application September 9, 1939, Serial No. 294,179

In Great Britain September 30, 1938 i 2 Claims.

This invention relates to winding threads, particularly threads oftextile materials. It may be used, forexample, in winding an artificialthread of regenerated cellulose onto a bobbin, reel, cone,

5 tube or other core (which we will hereinafter re-' fer to as a bobbin)from a cake of such thread produced by collection in a centrifugal box.

When winding threads onto a bobbin the package may be rotated either bydriving the bobbin o spindle at a constant angular speed or byfrictional contact of the package itself with a driven roller. In eithercase it is necessary to exert a tension on the thread between the sourceof supply and collection to steady the thread and give good winding.This invention is concerned with that type ofwinding wherein the bobbinspindle is caused to rotate at a constant speed. In this case it is wellknown that the tension exerted by the pull of the bobbin on the threadgradually increases as the amount of thread wound on to.

the bobbin and consequently thespeed of travel of the thread increases.This gradual increase of tension has undesirable effects on the threadand various proposals have been made'to overcome its disadvantages. Suchproposals are usually based'on the principle of correspondinglygradually diminishing the tension exerted on the thread by a devicethrough which the thread passes between the source of supply andcollection, so that the ultimate tension in the thread as it is wound onto the bobbin remains substantially constant.

According to the present invention the device for use in the winding ofthread on to a bobbin rotating at a. constant angular speed in order tocompensate for the gradual increase in the ten-.

sion exerted by the rotating bobbin which occurs as the amount ofthreadon the bobbin increases,

comprising a freely mounted light pulley wheel co round the groovedcircumference of which the thread is caused a friction brake acting onthe said wheel and means operated by afeeler arm in contact with thewound thread on the bobbin for gradually releasing the pressure of .45the brake on the wheel asthe amountof thread wound on to the bobbinincreases.

When winding thread using apparatus according to the present inventiontension is'exerted on the thread in. the course of winding by means ofthe said very light pulley wheel round which the thread is caused topass by means of guides. The said pulley wheel being freely mounted on.a shaft is turned by the thread passing round it and sufiicientresistance to turning to give good winding is caused by the frictionbrake acting on the very light and so ,pulley. This brake may be, forexample, a feltcovered disc which is pressed against the pulley wheel bymeans of a system of rods and levers through which it is connected tothe feeler arm which is constantly in contact with the wound 5 thread onthe bobbin. As the diameter of the collected mass gradually increases,the levers and rods are gradually moved causing a gradual reduction ofthe pressure of the felt disc on the pulley wheel. A gradual diminutionin the ten- 10 sion exerted by the'wheel on the thread is therebycaused'compensating for the gradual increase in the pull exerted by thebobbin .due to the increasing diameter of the mass of collected thread,

so that the resultant tension in the thread as it 15 is wound onto thebobbin is substantially constant throughout the collection. The pulleywheel should be at least 3 inches in diameter, freely mounted that theload necessary to drive it when the brake is not 'ap- 2o plied is verysmall compared with the braking load applied to it at the commencementof the windi of the bobbin and the groove should be of a suitable shape,preferably V-shaped so that the thread is slightly gripped, for example,by the 25 root of the V. The pulley wheel may be of compressed flb're,paper, ebonite or similar material.

' In winding threads according to the present invention I prefer thatthe thread should come as little as possible into contact withstationary surso faces between the source of supply and collection thusavoidi the undesirable rubbing and displacement of st caused when thethread passes over stationary rods, rollers, guides or other surfaces.86

The accompanyin diagrammatic drawing illustratesone form of apparatusaccording to the present invention, Figure 1 beinga view of the wholeapparatus and Figure 2 a view' showing the path taken by the threadround the pulleywheel; the invention is not restricted to the particularform shown.

A light pulley wheel I is mounted on a bearing 2 so that it is .free torotate. A fixed shaft 3 pro- 45 vided at one end with a flange 4 is alsomounted v on the bearing 2 and passes through the centre of the wheel I.Between the 'fiange 4 and the wheel i adisc of felt 5 is placed. Aspring 6 acts on a lever I pivoted about a point 8, which leverpassesthrough a slot 9 inthe shaft 3 and presses the flange 4 and thefelt 5 against the wheel I. The other end of the spring is attached to afeeler arm II) which is maintained in-constant contact with the woundthread on the'bobbin II by any well 66 known means'such as a spring l6,and is pivoted about the point I2. The thread is passed from a cake orother source of supply (not shown) over a small guide wheel I3 round thewheel I under another guide wheel I4, through a guide I5 to the bobbinwhich is rotated at a constant angular speed. The friction of the feltdisc on the wheel I gives sufficient resistance to turning of the wheelby the thread to give good winding and as the size of the bobbinincreases the feeler arm gradually moves about the pivot I2 lesseningthe force exerted by the spring and thus gradually reducing the pressureof the felt 5 on the wheel I and thereby the tension on the thread andcompensating for the gradual increase in tension which is exerted as thesize of the bobbin in creases.

What I claim is:

1. A device for use in the winding of thread on to a bobbin rotating ata constant angular speed in order to compensate for the gradual increasein the tension exerted by the rotating bobbin which occurs as theiamountof thread on the bobbin increases, which comprises a freely 25 mountedlight pulley wheel round the grooved circumference of which the threadis caused to pass, a friction brake acting on the said wheel and meansoperated by a feeler arm in contact with the wound thread on the bobbinfor gradually releasing the pressure of the brake on the wheelas theamount of thread wound on to the bobbin increases.

2. A device for use in the winding of thread on to a bobbin rotatingat aconstant speed in order to compensate for the gradual increase in thetension exerted by the rotating bobbin which occurs as the amount ofthread on the bobbin increases, which comprises a freely mounted lightpulley wheel having a grooved circumference round which the thread ispassed, a friction brake comprising a felt disc acting on said wheel, afeeler arm in contact with the wound thread on the bobbin, meanscomprising a system of rods and levers connected with said feeler armfor pressing said felt disc against said pulley wheel, and for graduallyreleasing the pressure of the brake on the wheel as -the amount ofthread wound on the bobbin increases.

